The True Story
by BurningFox6
Summary: My take on what really happened to Bill in the Passing. One shot. Contains mild language and violence.
1. The True Story

***Warning, spoilers ahead.***

**With the new DLC of L4D2 killing off Bill, I feel he deserves more than that. So here's my version of what could have happened (and knowing Bill, it's a good possibility that it did).**

**I do not own L4D, just this story.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"That oughta do it…" Francis said, pouring the last gas can into the generator. "Now we just gotta watch it until the bridge is raised. We should be safe up there."

"Sounds good to me." Louis replied, sitting next to the chain link fence nearby, keeping an eye out for any incoming infected. His leg had been sliced by a hunter earlier and it was painful for him to walk.

"Hey guys! Look what I found!"

Zoey walked out of a nearby building, holding out the prize she had found…an M60. "Had to get through so many zombies, but it was worth it." She declared happily.

Bill smirked. He was leaning up against the wall behind the generator, smoking yet another cigarette as he scanned the streets for infected, his assault rifle in his hand.

Francis wiped his hands on his jeans. He picked up his gun and walked over to Zoey, congratulating her on her find. Bill rolled his eyes…he knew Francis was just trying to hit on Zoey.

He looked off into the distance again and thought. He was amazed he'd come this far with these strangers he'd come across. At first he didn't think much of them…but now they were like a family to him.

However, at that moment Bill saw something off in the distance. "Zoey, lemme borrow your sniper for a second."

She walked over and handed it him. He raised the scope to his eyes and was horrified by what he saw.

Far, far off in the distance, the largest horde he had ever seen was coming towards them. At least a thousand commons, with assorted smokers, hunters, and boomers. At that moment the infected army roared, almost deafening the survivors.

The other survivors looked in the direction where the roar came from and saw it too. A look of panic crossed their faces.

"What're we gonna do?" Zoey murmured, fear in her voice.

Francis was walking back and forth, muttering to himself. Bill managed to hear "If we leave, the generator might be destroyed and we'll be dead…if we stay, they'll kill us and we'll be dead…oh man…"

Louis used the fence to lift himself up, but immediately sat back down, the pain being too much. He put his face in his hands, sensing the incoming destruction.

Bill tried to remain calm. He ran several plans through his head, but knew none would work. There was only one plan that might work…but it would involve the ultimate sacrifice.

He stood up and walked next to the generator. "LISTEN UP!" he shouted, breaking everyone out of their panics and getting their attention.

He pointed at Francis and Zoey. "You two," he commanded, "take Louis and yourselves up on the bridge. I'll stay here and watch the generator."

"But that's suicide!" Zoey yelled, the realization of what Bill said dawning on her.

Bill walked up to Zoey and put his hand on her shoulder. "Look at me, I'm old…my time's coming to and end, whether we survive or not. You three still have your whole lives ahead of you…and I'm not going to deny you that. Just go…I'll be fine."

He removed his hand from her shoulder and started to turn, when she grabbed him and held him in a hug. "Please, come back okay…" she whispered, holding back tears. "I can't promise that…but I'll do my best." He replied.

She let him go and walked over to Louis. "You're the bravest person I ever met," Louis called to him, "It's been an honor fighting with you."

Bill turned to Francis. They stared at each other for a moment, before Francis extended his hand. "You better survive this, Bill," he stated, "I'm not done making fun of you yet."

Despite the circumstances, Bill grinned. "You can count on it." He replied, shaking hands with Francis. Francis nodded and went to stand by Louis.

Bill walked over to Zoey and handed back the sniper. "I won't need this." he stated.

Zoey glanced at the M60 she'd found earlier. She handed it out to Bill. "Well, you might need this." she said. Bill accepted the offering, and set the M60 against the generator for later.

"Alright you three…go. I'll be fine, I promise." he said before turning around and walking to the generator. Zoey, Bill, and Francis nodded at each other. Francis and Zoey lifted up Louis, who used them as a crutch. Together, they headed towards the bridge.

Bill turned towards the horde he'd seen earlier. They were much closer now. Within moments, they'd be upon him.

He took the cigarette out of his mouth and looked it over. He pulled a Molotov from his pocket and used the cigarettes lit end to light it up. He flicked the cigarette onto the ground and looked at the horde again.

"Bring it on, you brain-dead son of a bitches."

* * *

Minutes later, the horde arrived. It was just as big as Bill expected…a thousand, if not more commons. Bill beat down the fear within him, and prepared himself.

As they finally reached the street, Bill drew his arm back and tossed the Molotov as far as he could. It landed right in the middle of the street, effectively blocking off the infected with a roaring wall of fire.

The infected still charged on, many of them leaping straight into the fire. Bill stifled a laugh as the stupid creatures flailed about before crumbling to ash. He even saw a few infected he'd never seen before falling to the fire. By the time the last flame had gone out, the infected army had lost at least 800 commons, and it looked like a few special infected as well.

He grabbed his assault rifle and opened fire. Numerous infected fell before him, chunks of them flying off around him. Soon, every common infected had been destroyed, with Bill not even having a scratch.

However, he'd forgotten about the special infected. A smoker grabbed him from behind. Bill panicked, but then remembered a trick he always wanted to try. Before it completely got him in its slobbery grip, he twisted around and grabbed the smokers tongue.

The smoker looked startled and tried to retract the tongue, but it was too late. Bill swung with all his might, and he swung the tongue towards a wall, with the smoker with it. The smoker stumbled into the wall, and exploded.

Happy with his success, he retrieved his assault rifle and began blasting away again. Boomers exploded, smokers fell, and hunters screeched in pain.

However, Bill hadn't noticed a rather cunning hunter creeping behind him on the rooftops. It roared and pounced at Bill, claws ready to cut him to pieces.

But Bill was too fast. He raised his leg and the hunter smashed into his foot at high speeds. After a satisfying crunch, the hunter slumped to the ground, dead.

Bill looked around him. He couldn't believe it. He'd destroyed them all…and it had been easy. He grabbed the final medkit from the table nearby and bandaged himself up. The others would be overjoyed to see him alive.

He had begun walking to the bridge, but hadn't even exited the generator area before he heard the most dreadful roar of all. Barreling around a corner, a tank arrived. Bill quickly retrieved his assault rifle, and opened fire. Bullet after bullet hit the tank, but the humongous infected didn't even flinch.

Bill fired and fired, until he heard an alarming click. He'd run out of ammo. He tried to run, but the tank grabbed him around the waist in its humongous hand. It lifted Bill off the ground and slammed him into the ground with enough force to make Bill's head swim.

He was sure it was over, when he remembered Zoey's parting gift. Laying next to him, right where he had placed it, was the M60. He reached for it, but found himself to be too far away.

He stretched his arm as far as it would possibly go, and it looked like it wouldn't work…but he managed to grab the M60 right as the Tank lifted him back up again.

The tank held Bill up to his face, eyeing him, before preparing to beat him into the dirt again. But he never got the chance.

Bill opened fire onto the behemoth's face, effectively blinding it and severely wounding it. The tank roared in pain, not expecting its victim to be able to harm him this way. It drew its arm back and threw Bill in a random direction.

Bill flew across the generator area, before hitting the ground hard and sliding at high speeds into another generator. Sparks flew around him, and he crumbled into a heap.

Despite the extreme pain, he managed to push himself up to a sitting position. He saw that he'd been flung into a room nearby the generator they were using, and that he'd crash landed into a large generator.

He looked out the door and saw a blood trail, no doubt his blood from when he hit the ground. He looked at the tank and saw it was wobbling back and forth. It was bleeding horribly, its face mutilated from the close range M60 fire. It was punching the air around it wildly, hoping for a lucky hit. After a moment the pain was too much for the tank and it collapsed, dead.

Bill couldn't believe it. He'd won…the largest horde ever attacked, and he'd destroyed them all. The others wouldn't believe this.

He tried to stand up, but to his misfortune he couldn't move either of his legs. He groaned, realizing the impact with the generator and the ground had broken his legs. He tried to call out for help, but he was too weak…the blood loss was getting to him.

He sighed and leaned back against the generator, trying to get comfortable. He placed the M60 in his lap…who knows, maybe some other lucky survivors would find it…

His vision blurred and he had trouble focusing. Accepting his fate, he closed his eyes.

"You did good, soldier."

Bill opened his eyes and looked around quickly. On his left was a transparent old woman, clothed in a camouflaged army outfit.

"J-j-Jane?" He stuttered, his calm effectively broken. "But you died long ago, before all of the zombies arrived…"

The ghost (for Bill had decided this is what she was) smirked. "Yes, I did, my dear. And I've come here to tell you that everything is going to be alright. We'll be reunited soon."

Bill knew he was dieing, but the spectral figure of his long-lost wife shocked him. Noting his shock, the specter said "It'll be fine, love. Where you're going, you'll be happy."

Bill calmed down a little. Not sure if this was just a hallucination or if it actually was his beloved Jane, he decided to accept what she said.

The spirit bent down and planted a gentle kiss on the dieing veteran's cheek. She gave him a little salute before fading into nothingness.

Bill wouldn't last much longer. His head lowered, his eyes shut. But knowing that he was going to wonderful place, he allowed himself one last smile.

Everything faded to black.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed my tribute to Bill. I'm not sure if he actually had a wife or not, but I thought it'd be a nice touch. **

**I have an alternate ending to this, but I'll let the reviews tell me if people liked this or not, and if people liked it I'll release the second ending.**

**He's sniping smokers with the angels now…**

**Please review if you enjoyed.**

**R.I.P. Bill**

**2008-2010**


	2. The Alternate Ending

**People seemed to like the story, so here's an alternate ending. Enjoy.**

* * *

Bill flew across the generator area, before hitting the ground hard and sliding at high speeds into another generator. Sparks flew around him, and he crumbled into a heap.

Despite the extreme pain, he managed to push himself up to a sitting position. He saw that he'd been flung into a room nearby the generator they were using, and that he'd crash landed into a large generator.

He looked out the door and saw a blood trail, no doubt his blood from when he hit the ground. He looked at the tank and saw it was wobbling back and forth. It was bleeding horribly, its face mutilated from the close range M60 fire. It was punching the air around it wildly, hoping for a lucky hit. After a moment the pain was too much for the tank and it collapsed, dead.

But that was the last thing Bill saw. The pain was too excruciating for him. He blacked out.

* * *

_It is not yet your time, soldier. Your war has only just begun._

_You did good, but it is time to wake up and fight once more._

_Awaken._

* * *

_Groan._

Sunlight streaked across his eyes. Bill opened his eyes and shielded them with his hands.

For a moment he questioned if he was dead. When a mild ache hit him though, he realized the exact opposite. He was alive.

Bill looked down and saw that his chest had been bandaged. At his feet, crudely drawn in marker, was R.I.P. His assault rifle was at his side…upon inspection, he saw that someone had loaded it.

He grinned. Them bandaging him up as an act of respect had probably saved his life. But this did make him wonder, where had the others gone?

Bill stood up slowly, fighting back some pain. He retrieved his gun and looked down at the R.I.P. He stomped on it with his foot and scuffed it out.

He strolled outside. The carnage from last night was still littering the streets. The tank that had almost done him in was still lying there, though it seemed it had been kicked a lot.

Looking towards the bridge, he noted it had been lowered. His companions were nowhere to be seen. He figured they were already on the move.

He pulled a cigarette and a lighter from his jacket, glad to see they hadn't been displaced during the fight. He lit it up and put his signature cigarette back in his mouth.

_Grrrrwwwll_

Hearing a low growl from behind him and just remembering he was in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, Bill swiftly shot his arm up over his shoulder.

_Crunch!_

The hunter that had been about to attack Bill crumpled to the ground, knocked out. Bill considered putting a bullet through its head, but decided on something much more interesting and ammo conserving.

After tying its hands and legs together with a rope found nearby, Bill smirked and walked to the intersection nearby. He stared down the street that would lead out of town and thought. Maybe he'd see his teammates again, maybe he'd meet some new teammates. No matter what happened, he knew he would survive this. He had a war to win.

He took a deep breath, and started walking down the road.

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**Hope you enjoyed the more positive ending. As you can see, it isn't too late for Bill to make a comeback :P**

**Either way, please review if you liked it. Thanks for reading.**


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